This invention relates to an arrangement, particularly a bearing arrangement, with roller elements which are guided by means of a guide ring and are arranged between two support rings.
New fields of use require bearings which may be ovalized up to 3% of their diameter during normal operation. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,427, which discloses a sliding wedge transmission. Such a transmission contains a, for example, oval rotating body on which a deformable planetary wheel is mounted by means of roller elements. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,957 discloses a roll-ring compressor which contains a thin-walled ring piston arranged eccentrically with respect to the cylinder. The ring piston is mounted on a rotating body by means of roller elements and lies against the cylinder wall in a predetermined rolling region as a result of the eccentricity and a deformation. The bearing arrangement with the roller elements is correspondingly deformed. Today's conventional roller bearings are subjected by such deformations to high demands regarding kinematics and load capacity, whereby significant limitations with regard to efficiency and durability must be reckoned with. The reduction of the limiting speed of rotation and the increased friction values which reduce the efficiency of the known sliding wedge transmission are particularly disadvantageous. The aforementioned roll-ring compressor kinematically allows speeds of rotation up to about 12,000 rpm, which by a wide margin cannot be achieved by today's known bearing arrangements. In an ovalized or deformable bearing arrangement, the individual roller elements roll with differing speeds of rotation around the circumference, and with a roller element cage which is unyielding in the circumferential direction, consequently, a slippage arises between the roller elements, the cage and also the outer or inner support ring. The higher friction which results herefrom is very disadvantageous and leads to elevated temperatures and increased abrasion losses (wear). Further, if the roller elements in a bearing arrangement are guided by means of a cage, then as the bearing arrangement rotates, the roller elements slide along one side of the cage pocket, whereby an additional rolling resistance or frictional component is caused. The rubbing of the cage against its guide surfaces also increases the frictional moment. Further, the cage rods between the individual roller elements require a correspondingly large spacing between the roller elements.